BFRDP Projects

Growing Together: Building the Capacity and Skills of Low-Resource Beginning Farmers and Agricultural Service Providers in Maine
[Final Report]

Award Amount: $750,000
Grant Program: 2014 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program Awards
Project Director: Craig Lapine
Email: craig@cultivatingcommunity.org
Organization: Cultivating Community

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  • Overview
  • Results
  • Materials
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Project Overview

Cultivating Community’s “Growing Together” employed a multi-sector strategy to create an increasingly robust, economically productive farm economy in Maine. First and foremost, the project provided intensive, customized, land-based training to four cohorts of New American farmers at varying levels of expertise, as well as to other beginning farmers and to youth agricultural interns in our food-based leadership programs. As part of this training, we connected program graduates to the expertise of our partners in the region, to address critical issues such as land access and stable land tenure. Second, we provided support and facilitated a new kind of training for Maine’s agricultural service-providers that enabled them to better understand and meet the needs of New American and other low-resource and/or socially disadvantaged farmers. As the capacities and skills of beginning farmers and agricultural service-providers simultaneously developed, a continually increasing number of low-resource, socially disadvantaged, and other beginning farmers attained increased success in operating independent farm businesses. We also tested, defined, and advanced best practices for the support and inclusion of low-resource farmers seeking agricultural services, and we disseminated new learnings locally, regionally, and nationally.

Number of Participants: 179

Results

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